UK Construction Week

Published 14/10/2015

How the right doors can help bring a construction project together when skills, time and budget are limited.

The lack of skilled workers is a common complaint within the construction industry, so much so that a seminar at UK Construction week was dedicated to the subject. Combine this with tight deadlines and even tighter budgets, and the chance of successfully completing high quality projects can be a challenge for all involved.

The good news is, choosing the right products can alleviate these problems and help the construction industry deliver high quality results, on budget and on schedule. Within this guide, we will look at:

Why the UK is suffering from a skills shortage

How installing doors doesn’t necessarily require specialist labour

The products that can shave hundreds off your budget

Why architects are choosing doorsets

How pre-primed doors can save valuable time

More work than workers

In recent years, there has been a boom in the construction industry, with developments and new build projects popping up on every corner. Whilst this is great for the UK construction trade as a whole, it has highlighted the fact that there are simply not enough skilled workers coming through the industry to meet these new demands. In fact, according to a survey of 300 contractors by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), two fifths of contractors are struggling to recruit workers with the correct skills.

The survey also highlighted the following facts:

Construction has an ageing workforce; over the next 10 years, 450,000 skilled workers are expected to retire.

It is anticipated that over the next five years, the industry will need 182,000 new recruits to replace those retiring.

One in twenty construction companies said that they were at risk of collapsing due to the lack of talent joining the industry.

Nearly one in five contractors have stated that the skills shortage has hindered their growth over the past two years.

One in ten contractors admitted that they had lost work to competitors with a more skilled workforce.

Two thirds of contractors agree that there should be more incentives in place to help them recruit young people.

Thankfully, these figures are not being ignored and initiatives such as CITB’s Go Construct are tackling the skills shortage head on, helping to inform the young workforce of the opportunities within the construction industry and ultimately, create a new workforce, fully equipped with the necessary skills.

Lee Bryer, CITB Research & Development Operations Manager, said:

“There is no doubt the biggest challenge facing the construction industry is to find and develop skilled workers. CITB continues to work closely with industry and Government to tackle this issue head on. A few weeks ago, we launched our new industry-led ‘Go Construct’ campaign to help attract more people into the sector and fill the 220,000 new construction jobs we are expecting over the next five years.”

Individual trade associations, such as the British Woodworking Federation, are also addressing the issue, to ensure that the UK continues to produce the high standards of craftsmanship that we are renowned for.

Q: How do we tackle the skills shortage in the interim?

As with most things in this fast-paced modern world that we live in, it is not always practical to apply intricate craftsmanship on every project, purely from a time factor. However, there is still the need for the job to be carried out to the highest standard, even within a short time-frame.

The pros of pre-primed

The key benefit of choosing pre-primed Paint Grade Plus doors, is the amount of time they can save on a job. And, in the construction world, saving time essentially equates to saving money.

Time and money are saved for the following reasons:

The unlipped edges of pre-primed Paint Grade Plus doors do not require sanding or prepping prior to installation.

Arrive on site ready to paint.

Pre-primed doors, in themselves, are a cost effective choice due to reduced preparation and decoration times

Premdor’s popular range of pre-primed Paint Grade Plus doors incorporates smooth, high density ‘white faces’ providing the optimum base for a high-quality paint finish. Doors within the range are ready to be painted on-site and are also available as either FD30 or FD60 fire door options.

Opening up the door set

When designing both commercial and residential properties, architects are increasingly choosing door sets as standard, especially when time and budget are considerations. This decision immediately removes the high costs of employing specialist joiners, and the time taken to install separate frames and doors.

The two choices of doorset, available within the Premdor range, are Sound Secure and SpeedSet Plus. Discover the benefits of both products below:

SoundSecure

Premdor’s SoundSecure door sets, which come complete with ancillary soundproofing components, are the ideal choice for apartment entrance doors. Offering advanced security, verified by Secured by Design approval, SoundSecure doorsets are both practical and reliable whilst also delivering the essential aesthetics required for modern day living. Available in FD30 or FD60 fire door specifications, there is no surprise that the SoundSecure range is a firm favourite amongst architects and developers.

Speedset Plus

Speedset Plus is the ideal choice when time is an issue, especially as the entire doorset can be installed in as little as 20 minutes. Due to the system’s simplicity, it is not necessary to employ specialist joiners to install these doors, which saves money on specialised labour and utilises the workforce already on site. Also, as Speedset Plus doorsets are fitted at a later stage in the building programme, it reduces the possibility of the doors being damaged.

The best of both worlds

Now active steps are being taken to enhance the UK construction workforce, it will only be a matter of time before the industry is fully supported with skilled workers and the construction demands of a thriving economy will be met.

This lull in skilled trade, however, hasn’t necessarily been a bad thing. It has allowed the industry to recognize that, with the right products, jobs can be completed cost effectively, to a realistic timescale using the existing work force, without having to cut any corners to get there.